United Kingdom
Clear, engaging, sensitive to context – my copy suits our swift-changing times. I produce tightly-written text that uses powerful storytelling to prompt action and build relationships. My copy communicates messages clearly and in engaging ways. It evokes the senses, reflects nuances of tone and delivers to brief. As an outdoors, destinations and UK travel writer, I also craft content that inspires people to explore, discover and maybe even realise a dream. My podcasts empower and engage, convey key messages and strengthen the bond between consumer and brand. Clients include Ordnance Survey, Lonely Planet (20+ guidebooks), tourist boards, universities, credit card firms and car manufacturers.
Finding the factors that help people connect with brands, shaping narratives, crafting text. Evoking the senses, people and place. Enthusing, inspiring and prompting action. I used these techniques in a 30,000-word web commission for Visit Ashford, Visit Thanet and Visit Kent.
Lonely Planet Client Solutions commissioned me to research and write this 17,000 word guide to student life in Aberdeen for the University of Aberdeen.
For Ordnance Survey’s Walk London and Walk Edinburgh guides we unearthed the intriguing stories and green places hidden among shops and roads. We discovered routes, walked paths and marked-up maps. We then wrote about them in ways that resonate and inspire.
More than 10 years working as a Lonely Planet guidebook writer has seen me heading out on the road in places as diverse as Devon, Cornwall, south west England, Ireland, Iceland and Italy. As well as honing my research and writing skills, it’s led to endless adventures – such as soaking in geothermal pools in the Westfjords.
I'm delighted to produce, record and edit the GetOutside podcast for Ordnance Survey. This is a podcast that's so outdoorsy you can almost smell the wood smoke. Each edition heads deep into Britain's wild spaces, bringing you compelling interviewees, inspiration and information to help you get active outdoors.
As well as writing guidebooks, I also delve deeper into destinations for web articles. Such as this one on sustainability on Lundy Island. "Just setting sail for Lundy feels like an adventure. At the north Devon ports of Ilfracombe and Biddeford you board the MS Oldenburg, a 1950s supply ship decked out in brass and wood. Some two hours of often surging seas later a slab of granite just 5km by 1km rears 140m out of the waves ..."
I’m a keen advocate of the adventures and explorations people can have right here in the UK - especially amid current travel restrictions. It prompted me to write this piece for Ordnance Survey on finding quieter, local outdoor spaces and experiencing them in new, exciting ways.
My most popular Ordnance Survey GetOutside podcast saw us investigating your winter family adventure dilemmas. When we asked parents what got in the way of spending time outdoors in the colder months you could feel the angst. People who wanted desperately to do the right thing but felt frustrated by schedules and finances, access and safety. So we made a podcast packed with tips on enjoying time-savvy, low-cost, close-to-home family fun outside.
More of us are likely to holiday at home this year. Which made for a timely piece for Lonely Planet on the England Coast Path - a 2800-mile, shore-side trail that'd take even the fittest hikers a year to complete.
Taking a sideways look, deploying doses of sly humour, connecting in surprising ways - tricks I love to use where they work well. Such as in this article for Ordnance Survey on why maps matter. Did someone say Is This The Way To Amarillo?